Stanford opens long-awaited trail

Larry Horton, senior associate vice president of public affairs at Stanford University walks on newly opened Matadero Trail on May 20, 2011. Stanford University opened a new public hiking trail on Friday, May 20, that connects Page Mill Road and Foothill Expressway to Arastradero Road and offers broad views of San Francisco Bay. (Dai Sugano/Staff)

A closing chapter of a bitterly contentious town-gown drama looks like this: a simple dirt path, as simple, sweet and serene as nature itself.

Friday's opening of Stanford University's long-awaited trail -- the "S1," or Matadero Creek Trail -- represents the end of a decade-long negotiation that embroiled two counties, three towns, staunch environmentalists and one of the nation's wealthiest, most beautiful and fiercely protective campuses.

About 1.5-miles long, the new trail flanks Palo Alto's Page Mill Road and then ascends an oak-studded meadow above the buzz of Interstate 280, offering views of the bay and Santa Cruz Mountains.

It's not much more than a terrace etched out of hill, graced by gentle Hereford cattle, scattered wildflowers and the fragrance of fresh-mowed grass.

But it offers rare public access through the private campus -- a privilege granted in exchange for Santa Clara County's willingness to approve Stanford's high-density housing and other university development.

Ten years ago, Stanford agreed to build hiking trails as part of its agreement with the county. But while the buildings went up, trail development stayed stuck in the mud.

Everyone was happy with the trails plan. The problem was: Where to build it?

Environmentalists with the Committee for Green Foothills envisioned access through the interior foothills of the vast 8,800-acre campus, linking peninsular sidewalks to the Pacific Ocean.

Yet the saga continues to linger because Portola Valley and other communities had different grievances.

Construction will start soon on a second nearby trail in Portola Valley along Alpine Road, part of the same agreement. But a section of that trail along Alpine between Junipero Serra Boulevard and I-280 has been rejected by San Mateo County and is still being negotiated.

Offers of Stanford money have bounced between San Mateo and Santa Clara counties like gold-plated pingpong balls.

The new trail opening took longer to achieve than the Lewis & Clark expedition spent traveling to the Pacific Ocean, then back home.

The price tag on the two routes, totaling four miles, is $700 to $1,500 -- per foot.

"We would have preferred a trail on the Stanford Dish" property, said Brian Schmidt, an attorney with Committee for Green Foothills. "We are glad that Stanford has come part of the way. It is long delayed for doing the recreational mitigation that it agreed to do over 10 years ago."

Startled by Friday's new visitors, ground squirrels skittered across the path. Cattle stopped their grazing and cast a wary eye. Swallows flitted overhead.

Leashed dogs are allowed on the nature trail; horses, bicyclists and skateboarders aren't. (Nearby Deer Creek Road will soon have a dedicated bike path.) It takes about a half-hour to traverse, one way, between Page Mill and Arastradero roads.

"This is absolutely gorgeous," said Monty Gibson, a Texas A&M tennis coach, visiting Stanford for the NCAA championships. He discovered the route while seeking a hill on his morning jog. "I've been taking pictures and posting them on Facebook and sending them to my wife. What a great moment."

Savoring its completion, Stanford's vice president of public affairs, Larry Horton, took a break between meetings to hike the trail, wearing a straw hat and toting an iPod loaded with the new bestseller "1861: The Civil War Awakening."

"I'm very pleased," he said, scanning the landscape. "I think this will be a very popular trail."